BANTAM >> A 29-year-old Canaan woman accused of stabbing her boyfriend in the chest at his Winsted home during a domestic dispute Monday evening was arraigned on first-degree assault and second-degree breach of peace charges on Tuesday.

Amanda Benson, 29, of 2 Deely Road, was held on $20,000 bond after the arraignment at Bantam Superior Court.

Her 36-year-old boyfriend, Joshua Layfulde, was critically injured in the assault, police said.

At about 5:41 p.m. Monday, Winchester Police responded to 510-12 Main St. for a stabbing. When they arrived, a male victim was found with knife wounds to his upper chest. He was in “severe distress,” according to police Sgt. Brian Fox. According to the police incident report, Layfulde had blood on the front of his shirt and pants and was holding a towel against the right side of his chest. He told police his girlfriend had stabbed him.

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Layfulde was initially taken to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington, but was then flown to Hartford Hospital by LifeStar medical helicopter. He underwent surgery for a collapsed right lung there and was last noted to be in critical condition.

While examining Layfulde’s home, police said they discovered that the stabbing occurred in the victim’s mother’s room.

Inside the residence police said they found broken glass and CDs and DVDs strewn about on the floor. The victim’s mother told police that the stabbing occurred shortly after Benson was asked to leave the residence following an argument between the two. According to the account, Benson took a knife and put it to her own throat then arm before lunging it at the victim. Police later found a bloody knife in the living room of the victim’s home.

Layfulde’s mother told police she had lunged at Benson to try and take the knife from her because she was afraid Benson would hurt herself. The mother said Benson then lunged at Layfulde, who was partially behind a door and out of the mother’s sight. The mother said she heard her son say, “she stabbed me,” and then saw blood.

Benson is said to have left the scene from the back of the building in a blue Honda. She turned herself in at the Winchester Police Department later that night. She was found there, seated in the lobby by Sgt. Greg Lopardo.

Benson was arrested and gave her statement to the police. She said she had been dating the victim for about three months, She said the altercation began after an argument about another woman and names Layfulde called Benson.

Benson said Layfulde picked up a wood and glass coffee table and threw it at her as she tried to leave the apartment at one point during the argument. The coffee table hit her in the shoulder and head, and the glass shattered, but she was not hurt, she told police. Benson said she then took out her knife and held it at her side. She told police Layfulde then threw a stack of five-gallon buckets at her. As she tried to get her belongings from another room, Benson said they continued to argue and eventually Layfulde threatened to call the police. As Benson tried to leave the apartment, he said Layfulde grabbed her left arm. It was then that she stabbed him with her knife, she told police.

“We have had verbal arguments in the past but nothing physical,” Benson wrote in her statement. “This was the first time her ever physically grabbed me.”

Benson told police her cell phone was charging in another room, but said, “He was calling me names but he never threatened me. The reason why he grabbed my arm was to keep me from leaving. I probably did have the opportunity to call the police. I think that I could have just kept walking back out the door. At the time i did not think of it. He never said that he was going to kill or hurt me... He did tell me he would make my life a living hell if I left him.”

During Benson’s arraignment Tuesday, a protective order was issued by Judge Richard Marano, prohibiting Benson from contacting the victim. Her bond was initially set at $50,000 by police but was then reduced to $20,000 by the court. Her case was continued to Dec. 17 at Litchfield Superior Court, where more serious cases are handled.

About the Author

Reporter Mercy Quaye covers statewide breaking news for The New Haven Register, The Middletown Press, and The Register Citizen. Reach the author at mquaye@registercitizen.com
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